Great Sportive Event in spite of the usual culprits: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

 

Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022

An amazing sportive event that culminated with a final match between France and Argentina that had everything and more football fans could ever wish for. 

Of course, the sport won in spite of agendas that have nothing to do with football. Message for those who 'boycotted' the event? Your presence was not missed. In fact. your absence was not even noticed.

Football is about footbal and has nothing to do with the agendas that some miserable individuals used to try and destroy the event that was watched worldwide by hundreds of millions of football fans that could not care less about wokeness. The minute minorities that are really and trully behind certain agendas live in their worlds that have little to do with the real world. They might write headlines in countries like the United Kingdom, but that is as far they can go.

The match between France and Argentina kept people on the edge from beginning to end. Both teams played to the best of their abilities and Argentina won a well deserved title. No one could have expected to witness such wonderfull display of skills and devotion to the sport.

 

 

War in Europe: Wann wird man je verstehen?

Listening to politicians, to the mass media and even to the present Head of Nato, one would believe that what happened in Europe 70 or so years ago never happened.

As the build up for yet another European-wide war continues, we see that the memories of World War Two are been flashed away to encourage the new generations to get involved in yet another war - and perhaps the final war for millennia to come as it is more than likely that nuclear weapons will be used to erase every single European capital. Talking about the merits of Democracy, what is happening right now speaks volumes against Democracy. Democracy is a political form of governance that gives a blank cheque to politicians to erase Humanity from planet Earth.

Politicians do not represent us and they simply use the powers given to them to do as they please and lead us towards Armageddon. Strikes happening right now in Britain, the state of upheaval in Britain, was created by catastrophic geopolitical decisions that led to economic instability that mixed with an arms race will not only cause instability, but will also push us towards extinction.

Those who remember what happened after Chernobyl - it was merely an accident that affected reactors at an energy plant - know full well what will happen if a Nuclear Holocaust is triggered intentionally. The entire continent will be uninhabitable for ages to come. Our way of life will be gone forever. Thousands of years of social and technological evolution will be wiped out. Whoever manages to survive will have to live in a human jungle without any rules. It will be about killing or being killed in a state of widespread lethal anarchy. This is Mad Max World.

We must prepare for a new world in which the weak will be naturally exterminated and natural selection will determine who lives and who dies, a world without mercy. In this new world, Charles Darwin's evolution rules will be more apparent than ever before. In a lawless world, only the strong and the most brutal will have the slightest chance to live another day. 

This was Germany by the end of World War Two. This might be Europe by the end of World War Three.

And this is the Lady that the Labour Party and others accuse of racism

 

And this is the Lady that the Labour Party and others accuse of racism. Lady Hussey was pushed to resign and has been demonised by a Labour Party that said that a now former black Chancellor of the Exchequer 'was not black enough'. On top of being anti-Semites, so called left-wing operators are also anti-British and they actively campaign to undermine Britain in every way that they can. They cannot forget nor forgive non whites who have left Marxist organisations. In the history of Britain, we have never had such a multicultural cabinet, starting with a Prime Minister whose family originated in the Indian Subcontinent. Just ask yourselves. How many women have led the Labour Party or ever become Prime Ministers? How many non-whites have led the Labour Party or ever become Prime Ministers?

When a local Labour Party association in Northwest London tried to have a black candidate standing, the Labour Party rejected the idea and even threw out members of the said local Labour Party association. When a Jewish lady sought to stand as a candidate in the Midlands, she was told that she was 'too Jewish'. Even feminism is under attack because the so called left-wing operators support the idea of genetic men competing in women's events making a mockery of sports and the said left-wing operators are also bent on manipulating vulnerable children to make them doubt about their own identities as children. The very core of Britain is being undermined.   

UK Happy New Year: The threat is that the New Year will bring more industrial unrest with foreseable and unforeseable consequences

If the Lockdown can be blamed for the loss of economic activity, endemic strikes will cause untold damage to a weak British economy and the chances are that inflation will then skyrocket with rates of inflation not seen for ages or ever happening in the United Kingdom. You cannot have a national budget in times of significant economic losses. How can you predict how much you are going to spend if the very same day in which you announce the budget the indicators used to calculate your budget have moved upwards. 

Put it this way. You plan to spend X amounts of Pounds for Health. Inflation will eat away whatever monies you invest in Health. If you say that you will invest 100 Pound and then inflation eats away 20 of the 100 Pound, the actual investment will fall from 100 Pound to 80 Pound. If inflation keeps going up and you end end up with an endless series of strikes with people demanding a series of increases just to keep up with inflation, whatever monies are given as increases will never be sufficient. You cannot go on borrowing indefinitely.  Other countries have tried to survive such a cycle and have ended up defaulting and Britain is not big enough not to fail. Given the size of the British economy, there isn't a single institution that could supply the amount of funding necessary to keep Britain alive.

No government could break such a cycle and the moment the country becomes literally insolvent we are going to lose many of the advances made in many areas including Health and Education. This has already been happening when you look at the number of vacancies that remain unfilled. Immigration will make a bad situation worse because the issue is management and not lack of resources and this is very much apparent when you look at other areas like Tertiary Education. If we keep pumping resources to produce things for which there is no demand then we are going to lack the necessary resources for things for which there is demand. The aim for many years has been to increase the number of those attending Universities without thinking about the kind of degrees we really need. The natural consequence has been rising student generated debt, degrees that end up in a drawer without ever been used in the real world and drop outs. The inconsistencies are pretty obvious but political correctness stands on the way of decision makers. As if this wasn't enough, those in charge of managing the budgets of education centres don't mind accepting students for courses for which there is no future as long as they keep getting funding.

We know that there are issues to deal with but there is no political will to deal with them and status quo sustains a permacrisis.

Strikes generate enormous losses for the economy by paralizing the country. As always, the ones who will suffer more because of strikes are the most vulnerable.

Working our way around strikes

In the end, we come to accept strikes as part of the food and parcel of everyday life in the United Kingdom. So, what do we do? We try to work our way around them and move on. Once again, waiting lists at the NHS and missed schooling days will happen not because of the lockdown measures impelemented during the pandemic but because of strikes of very crucial segments of the economy. NHS strikes? Patients without treatment. School strikes?

Students falling behind in their studies. Most British education centres were downgraded this year. No surprise there. It was bound to happen after what has been happening since 2020 and there is more to expect in terms of lack of schooling. Children at home or wandering around getting into trouble, parents struggling to manage between work and caring after their children and, if this wasn't enough, all those jobs prospects for their children getting farther and farther away because lack of schooling means lack of qualifications to have acces to job opportunities.

There is no leveling up if people don't have what it takes to get better jobs and it could well be said that strikes ensure that the new generations will miss opportunities in the medium term and long term. If somebody is making less than 20,000 Pound a year, we can understand that they need more to get by, but when somebody is getting 59,000 on average there is no justification to keep asking for more when the country is struggling with public debt out of control. Trade Union representatives said it themselves: trains drivers are getting 59,000 Pound a year on average. They are thinking merely about themselves and they are forgetting the hundreds of thousands that are not so lucky, the ones who are going to be harshly hit by transport strikes. No transport, no work when people need transport to go to work and especially when a day out of work means no income whatsoever. They say that politicians are out of touch with the rest of society. Well, high earning train drivers are equally out of touch with the rest of society and because of it society as a whole stands to pay a very high price for it.

Strikes hit the have-nots harder. Billions of pounds will be lost, taxes will not be collected, and social misery will spread faster than ever. With every year turning the Goodwill Season into a confrontation season the feel good factor evaporates. 

The expression Capitalism creates wealth and Socialism spreads misery is truer than ever before. Of course we must support decent incomes for all, but we must reject opportunists driven by greed that hide their greed behind legitimate concers to justify the unjustifiable. 

Strikes: winners and losers

 

Strikes: winners and losers

The coming months will see more strikes in Britain and this will include not only transport but also state administration, National Health Service, Education and other segments of the British economy. The idea is that workers want better deals to lose less of the value of their incomes being eroded by the inflationary process created by sanctions against the Russian Federation.

One of the outcomes has been the downgrading of the education system with most education centres having gone done in terms of education standards and there is more to come when teachers go on strike. To the damage caused by the Covid Pandemic will be added the damage caused by absenteism from classrooms caused by strikes. This is going to be also a difficult time for working families and many will face the dilemma of going to work, leaving their children alone outside schools or staying home to look after their families. This will also pose serious social risks. Having children without education and without adult supervision roaming around with little to do is certainly a recipe for disaster. 

We cannot entirely blame workers concerned about their incomes, but the very shortsighted approach of administrations that completely underestimated the impact of geopolitical decisions. Everybody with a grain of common sense could foresee that economic warfare would have repercussions not only for the British economy, but for the world's economy as a whole.  Even France with its nuclear power advantage is in dire straits as the vast majority of French nuclear reactors are not operational and this led to a direct confrontation between the French authorities and energy providers when French authorities tried to force energy providers to provide electricity at below operational margins. Similar situations occur across continental Europe and Winter has not even arrived. As temperatures fall, the true extent of the energy crisis will be felt and words like rationing and blackouts. Those who remember the early 1970's in Britain will know fairly well what it means. At one point, Britain was working three days a week. In Britain, temporary aid has been provided to help both ordinary consumers and companies deal with the brunt of energy prices but, unless such schemes are intended to be a permanent feature, sooner than later the real costs of energy will be felt across the board.

So what do strikes achieve? To begin with, those who are going to bear the brunt of strikes are going to be the most vulnerable and especially those who are part of the Zero Hour Contract economy and the black economy. With reduced economic activity, they are going to struggle to survive. Recession could soon be followed by Depression and we also what Depression means. In a recession, economic activity is severely affected but continues. In a Depression, the ultimate consequence is massive levels of unemployment. The hospitality industries - for example, were critically affected by lockdown measures during the pandemic. After that, they have had to deal with higher energy prices and many businesses came to an abrupt end. If now they to have to deal with higher energy prices and margins that do not cover their operational costs, for a vast number of businesses this will be the end game.

Any temporary gains will be followed by gigantic losses. In an economy with skyrocketting levels of borrowing, any salary increases will be swallowed by inflation.

Permacrisis: new word officially added to the English language

From now on, we live in a state of permacrisis or permanent crisis. The word has been officially added to the English language. Events of the last two years and whatever is there to come more than justify the new addition. 

Despite the fact that the BBC, Sky and other media constantly fail to report what is happening not just in Britain but also abroad and especially in Continental Europe (for whatever reason they choose to 'blackout' the news and fail in their duty of care), Europe as a whole is in crisis. In Spain, hundreds of thousands went to the streets to demand better healthcare in Spain. The situation is critical due to mismanagement and lack of medical staff. Strike is the word across Europe. 

Unfortunately, those in power seem to be more interested in geopolitics than in real politics and ordinary people will suffer as a consequence of mismanagement and short-sighted approaches. Politicians appear to be acting first and thinking later, completely oblivious to the consequences of the decisions that they are taking. Some say that we need to cut down taxes to restore financial health. Others say that we need to increase taxes to restore financial health. The summary of it all is, nobody knows with any degree of certainty what is going to happen.

Flipping a coin in the air is all we have left to do. As a consequence of it, we are paying enormous amounts of money to people who are just guessing and don't have a clue about what is going to happen. This is Democracy for you. They sit inside a debating chamber, make a few speeches about things they know nothing about and we have to accept political gambling because this is what Democracy has become.

The ones making the decisions have little or nothing to lose and it is up to ordinary members of the public to deal with the consequences of their decisions.

Utility bills go up and grocery bills go up and this is very much what leads to inflation. Now, in order to reduce inflation we raise taxes that will make utility bills and grocery bills to go up faster and lead to more inflation, but 'those who know say that increasing utility bills and grocery bills will reduce inflation'. You know that it does not make any sense. You are going to be more often than not completely out of pocket and you will have to cut down vital expenditure or get into additional and higher levels of debt. The most vulnerable stand to suffer most from what is happening but because the most vulnerable stand at the bottom of the pyramic there is a domino effect. Suddenly, the hospitality sector detects that less and less people are using their services because they cannot really afford to use their services. Balance sheets go into the red and unemployment raises its head. Not only that, is the hospitality sector suffers others sectors that provide services to the hospitality sector suffer and follow a similar paths. More unemployment is added to the pile and tax receipts start falling. So the Chacellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt MP has formally declared that Britain is in recession and recession means that from now on unemployment is guaranteed.

Paralizing the economy with more and more taxes, fuelling inflation while not promoting added economic activity, will lead us to a permacrisis with higher levels of debt, unemployment and social ills. Before we had health lockdown. Now we will have economic lockdown leading to social breakdown and political instability.

  

 

People who pay more taxes must have a greater say in public affairs very much like a shareholder in a private company

Our Democracy is imperfect because the votes of those who contribute very little have the same weight of the votes of those who contribute a lot. The votes of those who pay more in taxes should count more than the votes of those who pay little or nothing. 

If you are a shaholder in a private company, your decision power depends on the number of shares that you have got and Democracy shouldn't be any different. You put more money in the pot then you should have more power to decide what to do and what not to do.

Therefore, people would be encouraged to contribute to more to have a greater say in public affairs. In Britain, it was necessary to have something to lose to be able to have a vote. Nowadays, everybody votes regardless of their contributions and this is wrong. The rule should be: 'Do you want to have a greater say? Contribute more.' The vote of a vagrant has the same power of the vote of a captain of industry. This wrong. The reason our Democracy is falling apart is that the idle are awarded the same rights that are awarded to those who work hard.

Environmental gatherings: Saving the planet?

Environmental summits are no more than grandiose talking shops for picture opportunities and empty promises and am sure that mass media loved them because they give them something to write about without much effort and surely there is a crowd worldwide eager to swallow every fib that comes out of magnificent wastes of time.

Headlines like 'tens of billions needed to save the planet' might sound impressive - am sure they sound impressive - but they are as impressive as meaningless as no country in the world will ever consider spending such amounts of money that will surely come from additional borrowing that would lead them to implement austerity policies that no one likes to implement because they usually land those who try to implement into deep water. 

Questions that are seldom asked include 'who is going to get such amount of money and what they would be suposed to do with it?'. The 'what for', 'how' and issues of accountability are non existing. As soons the the mass media circus is over, it will be business as usual until the next mass media circus. 

After the mass media circus, the real issues of everyday life will once again be on the table. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an energy crisis. Germany is said to be in talks with United Kingdom to seek gas supplies - Germany does not have enough storage capacity for liquidified gas and even if Germany had enough storage capacity the amount of energy obtained from liquidified gas is quickly reduced by the same process of turning liquified gas into usable gas. This putting aside issues involving transportation of liquified gas done with a lot of fossil fuels. All those ships that carry liquified gas use fossil fuels and this has a cost. The cost of maritime transport has gone up considerably to the point that bringing in goods from faraway places has become extremely onerous reducing commercial margins generated by low production costs abroad. Perhaps the German move to transfer production to China was inspired by the fact that bringing factories closer to raw materials will allow them to reduce production cost a lot more. Scania made a similar move years ago when much of the operation was transferred to Brazil. Brazil needed trucks and it was easier and cheaper to produce trucks in Brazil that incidentally was going to be a major market for Swedish trucks.

The other issue that lies around is fracking. For all the talk about fracking producing earthquakes, you would need specially sensitive equipment to detect such 'earthquakes', and obviously ordinary people who don't have such equipment will hardly ever know about the said 'earthquakes'. Mass media have been very active creating an artificial monster out of gullible minds that are very willing to believe whatever horror story they are told. Although fracking will not provide immediate results in terms of increasing energy supplies, it is something to take into consideration when energy supplies are going down. Nuclear energy is a certain possibility but it takes decades for a nuclear plant to be built to produce the energy that we desperately need. We need energy now. This is one of the subjects Germany will be discussing with Britain to avoid what now look like unavoidable blackouts in the biggest manufacturing country in Europe.

Migrants come to the UK because life in the UK is harder?

The usual culprits keep talking about the EU and calling it Paradise. Do you know why migrants keep flocking into the UK? Because UK compared to many, if not to all, other European countries has the highest living standards including its Welfare State.

Just two days ago talking to Peruvians that lived in Italy and decided to leave Italy because.... because Italy does not have the welfare standards that Britain has and on top of that criminality is spreading.

Compared to most countries in the world, Britain has the highest living standards and whoever talks about relocating to other countries when they retire do so thinking that they will still have a UK income to support their lifestyles abroad and not because income levels abroad are higher. 

The entire set of left-wing arguments is a travesti and plagued with contradictions and fundamentally based on ignorance and lack of proper thinking. They complain about inequality in Britain because they are not thinking about so called inequality overseas. They don't have a clue about factual realities.

Life is harder and there is the issue of numbers. In the 1930s, who many people inhabited the planet? In 2022, how many people inhabit the planet? Pollution? Contamination? Of course, there is going to be more pollution and more contamination as world populations grow and grow and grow. When people run out of space in urban areas then other areas within countries become urban areas. In many countries, wild animals with nowhere else to go start coming into populated areas. As we destroy their habits, our habitats become their habitats. Don't you wonder why so many sea birds have become the new pidgeons in British cities? Their eating habits are changing as fish stocks in the seas are reduced or non existing. They were hunters in the wildness and now they have become city scavengers.

Allende before, Lula next

 

In the 1970s, many in the left celebrated the arrival of Salvador Allende. 11 September 1973 ended with bloodshed and the rest is history.

I happened to be in the River Plate region at the time. I was told about the imminent military coup in Chile and was even told when and how it was going to happen.

There are different versions about Salvador Allende's death: one version of events was that he killed himself not to be arrested and another version is that he was killed when he was still at La Moneda Palace. It makes no difference. The fact is that that put an end to his life and to his government.

This is Lula's second coming and this time the difference between his party and the opposition is less than 1 per cent of the vote. This means that opposition in Parliament will be fierce. As soon as Lula tries to implement any policy that goes against the flow, the transit of any bill through Parliament will be traumatic. 

When Latin American countries go left, alarm bells start ringing in the US State Department and like it happened in 1973, the CIA and others will have already made contingency plans to deal with governments that are seen as a security threat to the USA.

In Argentina, the second most important member of Mercosur, the situation is unbearable. Neither Radicales nor Justicialistas have been able to bring things under control. Indebtedness, galloping inflation in Argentina has led Uruguay to take urgent measures to curb importation of goods coming from Argentina as a massive influx would endanger Uruguay's own economy.

What happens in Chile? Well, just a few days ago a Referendum was called to try and reform Pinochet's Constitution and there were not enough votes to change the Constitution. The fact that this happens many years after the end of the military regime tells you, without a shadow of a doubt, that the country is very much divided. And what happens in Venezuela? Let us remember that Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Venezuela are members of Mercosur. With Lula at the helm, will Brazil get closer to Venezuela and Cuba? Left-wing hope could well lead to left-wing tragedy.  

Jeremy Hunt: November 17th 2022 - Tax Day

 

November 17th 2022 - Tax Day

A hole in public finances of  more than 50 billion Pound will have to be plugged. Apart from the prospect of budget cuts affecting services, the alternative is a massive amount of tax increases.

Kwasi Kwarteng was slaughtered, thrown to the wolves, because he wanted to implement Liz Truss policies of tax reductions. What will happen to Jeremy Hunt when he announces a budget that contains punitive measures?

Let us remember that on the first round of the leadership election that led to the Premiership of Liz Truss the now Chancellor of the Exchequer didn't manage to progress beyond the first round. He was not popular among MPs and was not popular among the Membership of the Conservative Party. Now, the same man is going to propose a budget that goes against what is the declared ideological stance of the Conservative Party. Rising energy costs, rising interest rates plus rising taxes. If you are a business owner struggling to survive in the present financial environment, how are you going to react? Will you minimize your business to reduce fixed costs and in doing so sent your staff to the queue of the unemployed? A very harsh winter coming for those who lose their jobs when families are already struggling to pay for rental accommodation because they don't have the means to afford mortgage payments.

Wasn't Rishi Sunak the one who suggested that we should have a long term approach instead of shock therapy? Will such a budget be compatible with long term thinking? If Jeremy Hunt goes to far, this could the end of Jeremy Hunt and also the end of an already wavering Rishi Sunak? What next? Another leadership election?

Just a few months ago it was reported that recent interest rates will put more than 500,000 mortgages in jeopardy. Will more taxes and more unemployment make the situation better or worse? If the mortgage business falters, the financial system as a whole will be in serious trouble. We don't need even to explain what a wave of mortgage and load defaults will do to the economy.

Triple Lock and Pensions: Nothing is guaranteed

 

The subject of state pensions will surely cause global warming

The Conservative/Liberal Coalition set out the triple lock aimed at protecting the value of state pensions and in 2019 the Conservative Party Manifesto stated that for the duration of the present Parliament the triple lock would be maintained - although momentarily, during the pandemic, the triple lock was suspended and due to be restored in April 2023.

The pension is supposed to increase every year depending on which of the following items is highest:

1) inflation measured by the CPI (Consumer Prices Index) 2) average wage increase or 3) 2.5%

This was before the present economic environment in which inflation shot upwards and is now above 10%. The present goverment led by Rishi Sunak will have to make a fundamental decision in terms of keeping the triple lock at least until the next General Election or abandoning the triple lock. 

In a country in which the average age of the population is rising, telling voters that the government is going to abandon the triple lock is not a vote winner. There are also plans to postpone the age of retirement. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will have to make a statement on plans for tax and spending. Britain has one of the lowest state pensions when compared to other Western countries. and given present rates of inflation the value of state pensions is being eroded on a daily basis.

If the triple lock is abandoned, the value of state pensions will purely and simply collapse.

 

Rishi Sunak must be in UK: With no financial resources there cannot be a consistent environmental policy

 

The matters of government to deal with the energy crisis are more important than attending a talking shop and posing for pictures.

No sooner than Rishi Sunak was appointed Prime Minister, the usual culprits accused the Prime Minister for not attending an international gathering. Well, there are more urgent priorities to deal with at home to prevent a catastrophe.

At this very minute, 350,000 NHS staff are being balloted for strike. Why does Labour and others think that this is about? The strike if it happens should take place sometime in November so the authorities have some time to articulate a consistent response. Where should the Prime Minister be? At some talking shop about the environment or dealing with the National Health Service? No country can deal with environment when its economy is in a dangerous situation and therefore the priority is to deal with the economy now.

Regarding energy, the Green Party might celebrate the fact the Rishi Sunak has once again ban fracking, but funnily enough the Green Party has no immediate solutions to solve the energy crisis that is affecting Britain and coincidentally is the source of a financial, social and political crisis also on the Continent. It can take 40 years to build some of the alternatives and we need energy now. One way or another we are going to depend on fossil fuels because we need fossil fuels to build the alternatives proposed. Wind turbines are not made with wind power and nuclear plants are not made with wind power. The amounts of energy needed vastly surpass any amount of energy that can be produced with wind power. Electric vehicles are build with energy produced with fossil fuels.

Poland might enjoy the pleasures of 17th Century life-styles without electricity in the very near future, but do we want that in Britain in 2022. The possibility of having to deal with blackouts is very real. Can we have a digital economy with blackouts? Will lack of lighting make our lives better and safer? When our cities are plunged into the dark, it will be Christmas time for all kinds of criminals wanting to operate with impunity. 

From now on it will become self-evident that neither government nor opposition can prevent austerity

Einstein said something along the lines of 'doing something over and over again expecting different results is the definition of insanity'. Neither - nor government nor opposition - are willing to do what needs to be done. At the first sign of adverse public reaction - whether real or fabricated by mass media - they immediate surrender and become divided, fragmented. With these attitudes, neither government nor opposition can be consistent. We could keep changing Prime Ministers or we could have a general election, and we would still be in the same situation.

We sense a feeling of apathy. The general public does not seem to be interestered in what is happening in politics. Ordinary folk seem to have given up and accepted it as a fait accompli. They have heard it all before. Apathy and fait accompli are now part of the status quo.

Countdown: Rishi Sunak becomes British Prime Minister

 

Rishi Sunak becomes British Prime Minister and this in itself is a bit like a Christian entering the Roman Colloseum to be eaten by lions.

Given the fate of his precedecessors in recent times, the newly elected Prime Minister is well advised to keep his friends close and his enemies closer.

Perhaps this is the idea of integrating his Cabinet with people from various sides of the political map of the Conservative Party.

Hopefully, his political honeymoon will last longer but, as always, in British politics 24 hours seem like an eternity and he is very much aware that he is cruising along very treacherous waters.

It has been well established that when the electorate votes, the electorate votes for a particular political party and not for an individual. Boris Johson managed to get a majority of more than 80 seats in the House of Commons and this, at least theoretically, would give him enough room to maneuver. Having said that, with such a majority neither Boris Johnson nor Liz Truss managed to survive. The issue is then not British voters as a whole, but loyalties within the Conservative Party. For many, having avoided a General Election until now is a blessing as many risked having their seats go up in smoke if a General Election took place in the present circumstances.

The next hurdle is January 2023, month when travelling fares are usually adjusted according to rate of inflation. The British government managed to alley fears about utility rates rises until April 2023, but it cannot go on providing lifeboats if inflation keeps going up. Although TFL is said to have been thinking about a 4% fares rise, TFL has no control of other areas of public transport. The present inflation rates is above 10%. Rises can only be avoided with bigger subsidies and in the end no one wins because bigger subsidies are paid with borrowed monies. If we try to avoid borrowing then we have to think about higher taxes or budget cuts.

Lizz Truss bet on lower taxes as a way of boosting economic activity. Rishi Sunak campaigned to avoid tax cuts and therefore will have to get better results to avoid entering a cycle of higher taxes and falling tax receipts that could ultimately push the country towards austerity budgets.

Inflation is eating away public budgets. If this goes on, very soon public administration bodies, local and regional authorities will ran out of money and will be unable to maintain service levels.

According to reports, Rishi Sunak is de facto the new British Prime Minister from now until the next General Election that should take place in 2024?

 

If reports are true, Rishi Sunak will be the new British Prime Minister.

The question is: how long will he last before a new game of intrigues kicks in? 

What will stop Nigel Farage from putting into practice what he spoke about on television, regarding the formation of a new political force? Is the Conservative Party really and trully finished?

At the time of the leadership contest, Rishi Sunak was the favourite of the Parliamentary Conservative Party and Lizz Truss was the favourite of the Membership of the Conservative Party. Now, the roles have been reversed. Rishi Sunak is still the favourite of the Parliamentary Conservative Party, but the Membership of the Conservative Party has had no say or, what is worse, have been denied a chance to vote by the very same man that were standing to support who, according to reports, walked away from the contest.

The Hawks of the Labour Party will have plenty to talk about and there are no doubts whatsoever that the witch-hunt will continue all the way until the next General Election that is due to take place in May 2024. There is no end in sight of the Conservative Civil War with former Conservatives places a sharp-shooter from the fringes of British politics.

There are former Conservatives and present Conservatives that want the Conservative Party to lose the next General Election and many MPs are at this very moment thinking about their futures. What motivated Boris Johnson, who was seen as a favourite to return to the field, to abandon the fight? What about the future of women politicians? For what we know, Mordaunt didn't have the necessary number of supporters to be in the fight. Look at how Theresa May ended up after her electoral failures. Look at how Lizz Truss ended up after little more than a month as Prime Minister. Will women be trusted ever again or at least in the near future?

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the arrival of King Charles III and of Rishi Sunak, the whole business will be a man's business. Let's have a look at the next Conservative Cabinet. In a matter of days we lost Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. Let's see how many of those left will survive and in what positions.

 

Three Candidates? Hope-ful or Hope-fool?

 

In the state Britain is at the moment, one wonders if anybody will be able to change the direction of travel.

This is not merely about economics so don't get your hopes up thinking that everything can be sorted with proper accounting. Decisions have been made in terms of geopolitics that have had enormous repercussions in Britain and elsewhere.

Everybody is trying to make sure that they are not the ones worse hit by the repercussions. We have got salaries whose buying power could evaporate. We have quite a few pensioners many of whom depend on a state pension that, despite promises about triple-locks, could find themselves struggling to pay for the basic necessities of everyday living. We have authorities in charge of delivering services with budgets that were limited when things were more or less stable.

When it comes to transport in London, for example, the Mayor of London has very little room for maneuver. If he agrees to demands made by those working for rail services, he will have to reduce support for bus services. Whatever he gives to John will have to be taken from Peter. How will local authorities cope when their bills go up with little support received from central government? January is not far away and January is the time of the year when travelling fares are adjusted 'according to the rate of inflation'. Everybody, whether they are involved in transport services or use transport services, will be hit. The impact of energy bills has been limited with funds provided to consumers until next April but such kind of support cannot go on indefinitely. The list of adjustments and re-adjustmens is extremely long and difficult to deal with in a single article. 

Will the British government be forced to reconsider geopolitical stances? It is by no means justifiable to send valuable resources abroad when the country is facing a burden that is pushing more and more people below the poverty line, regardless of the fact that the present troubles have been self-inflicted. 

The Russian Federation is going now for the Dwight Einsenhower Strategy

 

After the bombing of the bridge in Krim, the strategy of the Russian Federation has certaintly changed. They will now go for vital infra-structure and this means energy, bridges, transport and this is the difference between Arthur Harris's strategy and Dwight Eisenhower's strategy.

Without oil, without electricity, without communications, without railways, without transport, the Wehrmacht became a sitting duck and therefore the strategry of Russian Armed Forces will follow the path set out by the American Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.

Winter is coming and Ukraine will have to make hard decisions. It will be about leaving the civilian population without energy and without transport or providing its forces with energy and transport. 

Ukraine is already suffering blackouts and there will be more if dams and bridges are blown up. Isn't this what the Americans did to Serbia during the war that led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia?

It was revealed that Ukraine's efforts to destroy Russian drones are much more costly than the cost of the drones they are trying to destroy. Russian fighter planes are now coming dangerously close to British jets operating in the Black Sea Region. Britain will have to decide if it really wants to get involved. This weeks events in the United Kingdom are not reassuring. One thing is certain: the new British Prime Minister whoever he or she might be, will be served a bunch of very hot potatoes and will have to prove that he or she is capable of dealing with them.

In the meantime, populations of the zones at war are being evacuated by the Russian Federation to that only combatting forces are present so that Russian Forces have a free hand to exterminate anything on their path and so that Ukrainian forces cannot use civilians as shield. If you are in the area, you will have to a combattant and face the risk faced by combattants. This will be a "Carthago delenda est" (Carthage must be destroyed).

How far will be EU countries be willing or able to go is a major question. Zelensky's desperate efforts to get the kind of support that neighbouring countries are far from willing to offer tell you that all the messages about Ukrainian successes only exist in the imagination of those in charge of a massive propaganda effort carried out by politicians and mass media.

 

  

Blackout Britain: Britain is losing the war

Britain is losing the war

Blackouts from January 2023 onwards? Maybe earlier. British is losing the war and this is the direct consequence of measures taken against the Russian Federation and by extension the EU is losing the war as double digit inflation rates and energy scarcety will put Democracy itself in jeopardy.

Can you imagine the impact of having big cities plunging into the dark? This is Christmas for criminals that will take advantage of the dark to carry out their criminal activities. Will cities living in the dark be safer or unsafer places to live in? Families that are already struggling to make ends meet will see their lives further disrupted or totally destroyed.

Shortsighted geopolitical decisions have generated a nightmare that it is not going to go away anytime soon. Energy sources cannot be replaced that easily. What about the so called 'electricity revolution'? Will our technological society survive without electricity? Clean air? Less polution? If you don't have electricity, burning coal and forests will be valid alternatives. And what about water services? Can water services operate without electricity?

Can the digital economy operate without electricity? Most of what we do depends on having access to digital services and it is most worrying to think about life support without energy. If you are somebody whose life literally depends on having access to electricity to keep you alive, then you are in serious trouble. For a very long list of reasons, we must have 24/7 access to electricity. This is a point when it is no longer about politics or political stances. 

Unfortunately, we have got politicians that act first and think later. Was the present energy crisis predictable? Of course, it was. When you do something to somebody else, you can except that somebody else will react and this is exactly what has happened. If you depend on energy supplies and apply sanctions against a country against that provides energy supplies then there will be retaliation. And this is exactly what happened. It is ridiculous for Liz Truss to go around blaming the Russian Federation for reducing or cutting energy supplies when she is very much in favour of sanctions against the Russian Federation and in favour of supplying money and weapons to those who are at war with the Russian Federation. It is the equivalent of Winston Churchill asking National Socialist Germany to supply oil to Britain when they two countries were at war with each other.  

 

 

Ukraine winning? You can believe it if you are a child or mentally handicapped.

The Ukrainian government made a fatal error. Attacking a bridge in Krim merely served to reinforce Russian determination to carry on and intensify attacks. Generation after generation have not been told important history lessons.

In 1939, the Wehrmacht bombarded Warsaw, the Polish capital. It was massive even with the technology of the 1930s. You can imagine what the Russian Federation could do with the technology of the Twenty-First Century. If the Russian Federation wanted it could vaporise Ukrainian cities and the longer the conflict goes on the chances of this happening are rising.

The incompetence of Western politicians is appalling. You don't need any evidence looking at the present political crisis in the United Kingdom. They cannot run Britain, let alone deal with geopolitical situations. Speeches and slogans is all they can do. Even the present Prime Minister when she was Foreign Secretary supported a reduction of the British Armed Forces while talking about a possible war in Europe and in Asia. They don't seem to connect what they are saying with reality. Mass media journalists are not far behind. They don't seem to have a brain apart from trying to exploit peoples' ignorance with puffs of smoke. 

The demonisation of the Russian Federation is what created the present crisis. Some still believe that the Soviet Union is still around. They are totally unaware of political developments and disconnected from reality. Sanctions against the Russian Federation? Who benefits? Look at the state of quite a few EU countries. Without energy and with double-digit inflation rates it is not difficult to image what will happen when their economies go downhill.

If this wasn't enough, at the recent meeting of the Communist Party in China, the Chinese Premier made it all too clear. Preparations for the recovery of Taipei (Taiwan) continue apace and when it happens all the statements made by the USA and other countries will be no more than chit chat. And what about allegiances in Europe? The German economy has a huge stake in China. If you read the news you will know. BMW just announced the relocation of a UK operation to China. Why is that? It is pure and simple economics but it tells you that Germany will not be inclined to support any actions against China and so the main NATO ally in the continent will not want to get involved in a war against China. Let's also have a look at Middle East and Asia Minor. Saudi Arabia is not a willing partner of the so called West and Iran has been constantly pushed to support the other side. Some of the richest oil producers are no longer in the West side. Given the present difficulties in Eastern Europe and the reduction or cancellation of supplies of gas and oil coming from that part of the world, what will happen if supplies from Middle East and Asia Minor also dwindle or disappear? Will the financial crisis in Europe be better or worse?

 Double-digit rates of inflation in the European Union

This is what is happening in many EU countries right now. Will the energy crisis make anything better or worse? Knee-jerk reactions are leading many European countries towards a major disaster. Britain's backwards and forwards political decisions do not favour any kind of political stability either. This comes on top of the COVID disaster and the rabid anti-Russian attitudes that might be leading the continent towards a political blackout. Investors need to trust that European economies are in capable hands. Are they?

Welfare systems don't have the capacity to deal with changes of such magnitude and the financial system is bound to suffer if suddenly customers cannot afford to repay debts or to keep up with mortgage payments. There comes a time when interest payments become unaffordable and Argentina could teach us a few lessons about that. Mortgage defaults and inabilty to rent accommodation are major issues. There is even the case of landlords who explicitly say that they do not let properties to people who can only pay for accommodation with welfare payments. There will be even less properties let  to people supported with welfare payments if legislation is passed preventing landlords from evicting tenants who cannot afford tenacy payments.

Britain is in a dire position. Who is the Prime Minister? Who is the Chancellor of the Exchequer? Who is in charge? What will be the tax regime tomorrow? Day-after tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Political volatility and economic volatility go hand in hand.

Germany is no better. SPD barely managed to form a coalition that could be broken apart by the consequences of energy crisis. Job creation? If manufacturing is torpedoed by energy prices or scarcety of energy sources, the concern will not be about creating more jobs, but about keeping the ones that already exist. BMW's move to China might be due to several factors including an uncertan tax environment, the prospect of energy cuts, the fact that China is not deterred from building new coal fired energy plants and therefore able of offering cheaper and reliable sources of energy and if this wasn't enough the fact that China is a gigantic market.

If financial sectors get into trouble - it happened before - will governments be willing or be capable of rescuing financial sectors? And what about industrial unrest? Are we thinking about the consequences of persistent industrial unrest? For every strike i.e. transport strike, how many other areas are negatively impacted? If strikes happen simultaneouly, the impact is compounded.  

 

 

While some Western countries risk going into recession because of so called green policies, China and others forge ahead using more and more fossil fuels

The present situation could only be described as nonsensical. We wake up to the news that BMW is moving part of its operations in the UK to China. Surprised? Absolutely not. China is using more and more fossil fuels and building more and more energy plants that consume coal and therefore has the competitive edge. On the other hand, some of the most advanced Western economies are starving themselves of energy and talking about blackouts while adding taxes to already high production costs.

We are not going to save the planet by destroying Western economies. All we are managing to do is to create social and political crisis of major proportions. We are involved in a process of self-destruction. Energy costs are preventing us from being competitive and we are going to be seeing lower standards caused by excessive production costs. This is turn is going to create social conflicts that are going to lead to political instability and violence.

The climate hysteria is reaching astronomical proportions with people glueing themselves to roads, blocking passing traffic, destroying public and private property as if by engaging in irrational acts they were going to do anything to prevent damage to the environment. The damage is being done to the social fabric of Western countries, and politicians, mass media and educational institutions are very much part of the climate of irrationality.

Countries are people: We must not allow homelessness or housing instability

 

As somebody who has been married for more than 28 years and brought up three children, I fully understand the importance of having a set abode. Where you live, the quality of the place where you live, and the stability of accommodation is a crucial factor that should never be underestimated.

If for whatever reason you don't live in adequate accommodation or if you are constantly having to move around, your life and your family life will be dramatically affected in a very negative way.

When you look at the language of social services, there is an emphasis on stable families, suitable environment to raise children, et cetera. Such considerations should be ever present when it comes to policies that affect housing. High rental costs for people who can ill afford to buy their own accommodation are a death trap that puts families in danger and ultimately will create a very unstable society.

For most people, working means having to travel around and much time, money and health are spent travelling around. If you live far away from the places where you work, you are going to be spending a long time on the road and this is time that you are not to be spending with your family, looking after your family, and you are going to be losing many opportunities. If on top of that, you have no certainty in terms of where you are going to be living in, you are going to struggle with travelling arrangements and your children are most probably have to move from one school to another and unable to form stable social relationships. This will feel like being regularly uprooted. This is what far too many families in the United Kingdom are facing right now.

If we ignore or underestimate the aforementioned realities, as a country we are bound to pay a very high price because countries are basically people. 

KGH

The biggest enemy are not countries nor terrorist organisations. Corruption is the biggest enemy.

Forget about enemy countries and terrorist organisations. Corruption is the biggest enemy of the Western World. 

The imbalances that endanger the Western World have been created by the Western World and we have reached such point as a direct consequence of having proven to be unable to cope with new realities.  Key nations of the Western World have been committing either one error of judgment after another or this has been the intention from the very beginning by exploiting chaos as a way to divert resources into the hands of private operators that could not care less about the common good.

No matter how many technological advances the Western World has and no matter how much financial power the Western World has, corruption ends up destroying the things we care most about.

Conflicts are being used to syphon money away from where it is most needed. Under the cover of national security and defence used as justification, vast amounts of resources are being squandered with little or no accountability.

There is no mystery regarding the fact that we seem to go from one conflict into another. Conflicts mean money. Being constantly at war or about to go to war is the perfect excuse for misuse of taxation monies and elected representatives are very much part of the game. Therefore, we cannot expect that this situation will go away any time soon.

The monies that were supposed to help Iraq disappeared into thin air. No wonder then about what will happen to the billion of Pound sent to Ukraine. Long before the conflict in Eastern Europe started, Ukraine was swimming in corruption. There is no reason to believe that the same levels of corruption have not been swallowing foreign aid.

Both in the USA, Britain and elsewhere, such state of affairs is being financed with public borrowing. We borrow, borrow and borrow and when things reach crisis point then we talk about cutting down public expenditure that allows the survival of vital services.

The War in Afghanistan lasted about 20 years at an incalculable cost. Will the War in Ukraine go the same way?

 

The events in the USA on September 11th, 2001 were a long way from the date when the War in Afghanistan came to an end.

After the initial interest in the conflict, people simply forgot about it and continued living their lives as usual as if nothing was happening. 

At the end, public interest was renewed and it turned into a subject of national and international debates trying to discern what was actually achieved or not achieved. Soonafterwards, it ceased to be a fashinable subject to talk about. 

Now, we have the conflict in Ukraine, a conflict that actually started several years ago, before open hostilities. The question that arises is if the conflict in Ukraine will not go on very much like the War in Afghanistan. Is there a real interest to put an end to the conflict or is there an agenda to keep it going indefinitely? The USA has invested more than 64 billion US Dollars and like it happened in both Iraq and in Afghanistan, untraceable amounts of money went somewhere, but there is little accountability. The same happens with war materials that some say are already in the hands of international gangs. We must remember what happened to weaponry and war materials in Afghanistan and before that in Nicaragua. The Contras and drugtrafficking cartels were in business exchanging weapons for drugs that ended up being sold in the USA.

With the veil of secrecy that accompanies any war, money laundering, arms trafficking and illegal earnings are part of the deal because everything becomes an issue of National Security. 

President Biden publicly threatened that he would order the destruction of Nord Stream pipelines

 President Biden publicly threatened that he would order the destruction of Nord Stream pipelines. USA damaged pipelines. Here is the confession of the President of the USA.

The Trojan Horse: No visas for tourists, but open gates?

 

The Trojan Horse: No visas for Russian tourists, but open gates for Russians coming to the West?

In order to punish the Russian Federation, imposed severe limitations in terms of visas for Russian wanting to come to the West as tourists. In a new turn of events, there is the willingness to allow in 'Russians fleeing'. Obviously, European leaders cannot make up their minds about what they really want. 

If the idea was to prevent Russians from coming to the West, allowing Russians to come to the West is a move in the opposite direction. One of the heads of British Security Services proudly announced that 'we have reduced dramatically the numbers of Russian security services operators in the United Kingdom'. Really? There is no way in hell to check the credentials or intentions of every single individual entering the United Kingdom. The number of so called refugees crossing the Channel surpassed 30,000 and only this year. Britain has effectively no borders. How many are needed to cause chaos should things go south in Europe?

There is no real strategic thinking and this is happening at a time when the economy is going through a very difficult time. Nuclear deterrents do not work against a conventional force entering Britain. Who is an economic migrant? Who is a genuine asylum seeker? Who is a military/intelligence operator/mole with a mission to cause maximum disruption/destruction?

Porous borders will be Britain's undoing. How many operators were needed in July 7th 2005? Think about 1941 and 1945. What a difference in terms of the outcome of military operations. As the Russian Federation is already engaged in conscription, Britain and others are still living in Speechland. The Russian Federation talks about its willingness to use nuclear weapons, but curiously enough it is vastly empowering its conventional forces while Britain trusts its nuclear deterrent and fails to prepare for a conventional conflict. The words of Sergei Ivanov might come to haunt Britain that is willfully failing to prepare for a conventional confrontation and failing to protest its own borders.

While this is happening, multiculturalism is unravelling with Hindus and Muslims creating havoc. When the economic crisis bites, ethnic divisions will be faultlines. National unity in Britain?  

Liz Truss - New British Prime Minister - the test begins now

 

Forget the rhetoric of the election campaign and focus on actions taken from the moment that Liz Truss MP is officially inaugurated as British Prime Minister.

After the meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Liz Truss as third woman elected British Prime Minister, will be on her way to deal with some of the most difficult situations Britain has had to face and will have to act decisively to avoid all kinds of pitfalls.

On the national front, she will have to deal with the consequences of the energy crisis generated by positions adopted by Boris Johnson regarding the conflict in Eastern Europe.

She would also have to deal with entrenched positions involving Northern Ireland and the formulation of new British Bill of Human Rights to detach Britain from the European Court of Human Rights.

All issues are directly linked to British sovereignty that was severely limited to the point that, even when sorting out problems generated by illegal immigration, it it is still the case that foreign countries can tell Britain what to do about her own immigration policies.

Energy and everything linked to energy will be at the core of her premiership. The choice is between Net Zero and Self-Sufficiency. Do we want Britain to be prosperous and politically stable or do we want Britain subjected to a cycle of permanent crisis caused by unrealistic aims?

It is no mystery that the Parliamentary Conservative Party wanted Rishi Sunak at the helm, but the Membership of the Conservative Party supported Liz Truss. The margin between the two candidates was pretty close, but she had an absolute majority anyway.

The EU economy is falling apart and the Euro continues its descent compared to the US Dollar. The same is happening to the British Pound. So there is no safe haven anywhere. It is only September 2022. The arrival of the European winter will forcefully bring new realities into the big picture. The Russian Federation will not be willing to restore gas supplies until sanctions against the Russian Federation are dropped. What happens to the German economy will have a direct impact inside the EU and also in Britain. 

The prospect of a conflict of major proportions has already been mentioned by the European Commission. An economically unstable European Union can bring back the ghosts of the 1930s. Words like recession, rationing and blackouts are mentioned with increasing frequency.

This is not an easy time for Britain and Liz Truss knows it full well. As a member of Boris Johnson's Cabinet she had to support policies that went against her declared way of thinking and this is clearly understandable. The challenge is to adopt policies that many in her own party will oppose. Loyalty seems to be one of the main qualities that better describes the new British Prime Minister. She campaigned for Remain, but helped Boris Johnson to implement Brexit. She was not in favour of tax rises, but she did support tax rises out of duty. She occupied key positions within the Cabinet and is seen as the longest serving MP in the Cabinet. She is known as very hardworking and committed to the task in hand. You might disagree with many of her stances, but we must recognize her dedication.

She is definitely not a good debater. Her political opponents criticize her debating skills. Having said that, what really matters is her capacity to make hard decisions and stick to the course.

We look forward to knowing who will in the next Conservative Cabinet. 

  

We don't usually agree with Diane Abbott, but she is spot on on the causes of the crisis in Eastern Europe

Over and over again, the USA has been directly responsible for destabilization and migration crisis. The second campaign in Iraq was an unmitigated disaster that destabilized even more an already unstable Middle East and threatens to lead Europe towards chaos. The major defeat in Afghanistan was yet another disaster and one of the longest wars on recent records. 

American and British warmongering will generate one of the worst economical and political crisis in Europe and most probably turn back the clock towards the 1930 with well known consequences.

UK: Money is the cost of political decisions, but it can also be measured in lives lost

 

Money is the cost of political decisions, but it can also be measured in lives lost

The cost of dealing with the Covid pandemic has been enormous. Lives lost or damaged, job lost, the burden of anxiety and despair plus the economic and political cost.

But in essence, every political decisions has a cost attached. The cost of decision making when dealing with a crisis cannot be underestimated. When wrong decisions are made there is also a cost. Britain has been acting like a gambler, betting and hoping to win, but losing along the way. This gambling behaviour has been at the core of British geopolitical decisions. On the one hand there was the intent of saving money by cutting corners and on the other was the intent to remain relevant.

Afghanistan and Iraq have proven how wrong it was to cut corners while at the time attempting to remain relevant and and the consequences were shambolic. Politicians like to sound impressive and impressive it was the idea of investing hundreds of millions of Pound to build what were thought be state of the art aircraft carriers that have been beset by disasters. On top of delays came the realisation that structures were far from perfect and lead to leaks. As if this wasn't enough, it was understood that the carriers could be operational, but without the aircraft that should carry onboard. The latest chapter was HMS Prince of Wales when having left Porstmouth it had to return to port just when it was on its way for a long naval exercise and these was due to 'technical problems'. If Britain was at war, such kind of deficiences would be unforgivable.

What happens to the British Royal Navy in terms of mishaps does not end there, but other branches of the British Armed Forces are facing challenges. The recruitment crisis is not about lack of candidates to join the British Armed Forces. It is about suitability. Of those wanting to join in, there is a huge percentage in terms of those not judged fit to join in. This is why there was the idea of opening the gates allowing candidates from the Commonwealth to join. That did not go well. Now, recent decisions made in terms of recruitment have been criticized. Positive discrimination, not allowing white candidates to join in, has led to a new low. Trying to be politically correct, those in charge have made a difficult situation even worse. If those wanting to join in - if they trully wanted to join in - are ultimately judged not fit for purpose or if standards are lowered to allow them to join in then there will be serious questions to ask about fighting capabilities. The British Armed Forces do not have the necessary manpower and are also critically stretched in terms of material capabilities. Should Britain have to face a real threat involving a sustained long term effort, Britain would be facing mortal danger without the tools needed to get itself out of danger. Today's Britain is less capable than the Britain of 1940. 

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss spoke about her willingness of 'pressing the button' should it be necessary. Well, without the necessary conventional forces, 'pressing the button' might be the only one thing to do when everything else is missing. Just a few weeks ago, she stated that she was in favour of reducing manpower. It seems that all she has in mind is the nuclear deterrent and IT capabilities to deal with dangers linked to Internet. The formerly glorious Royal Navy had to be committed to the task of patrolling the Channel because Britain does not have enough patrol boats and this didn't go well either. Using warships to chase small ships and rubber boats is not ideal.

Building huge aircraft carriers was expensive and time consuming. One wonders how much could have been done instead of building such huge aircraft carriers. How long did the Bismark last? Were any lessons learnt? Titanic comes to mind. Given the way the British Armed Forces are managed, they could well become the new Titanic.

And when all this is happening, Britain faces a financial crisis of major proportions that threatens to unleash waves of social and political unrest. Will politicians be able to deliver all the promised budget increases? The months ahead come with the threat of blackouts, rationing, riots and defaults. Does internal upheaval make a country stronger? 

 

 

  

As Liz Truss threatens the Russian Federation with nuclear war, the Russian Federation launches covert national mobilization

 

What about the situation that is developing does the favourite to become British Prime Minister not understand?

If somebody threatens you, what do you do? Launch a pre-emptive attack. Within 15 minutes London will be history. That is the time it takes for a nuclear missile to reach London if launched from Kaliningrad. Hustings are turning into a dangerous circus. 

What is said by British politicians are being studied and every bit of information is being sent abroad to build a profile of what could be the next move. In the meantime, Boris Johnson, the outgoing Prime Minister is asking Britons to put up with an impending economic catastrophe.

Britain is today is an worst position that the position it was in in 1940. For decades now, one government after another has been weakening Britain to the point that Britain's military manpower is less than 80,000 and Britain does not have the capability to patrol its own coasts and its security services don't have the necessary manpower to track every possible terror operator, let alone tracking an organised attack within Britain carried out by well trained operators with a specific agenda.

The Russian Federation does not need to even attempt to attack Britain. British politicians are themselves busy destroying Britain. Improvisation, miscalculation, lack of awareness of the consequences. It is the law of unintended consequences that would push Britain downhill. 

Napoleon described Britain as a nation of shopkeepers. Paradoxically, the said shopkeepers kept Britain alive. Now, British shopkeepers are falling prey of British politicians. 

The news came today that for fear of dealing with bankruptcies and unpaid debts, energy providers are refusing to extend long term energy contracts for small businesses. If the hospitality industries and small businesses are forced to close down - many in the said hospitality industries and small business barely managed to survive the Covid pandemic - the most vulnerable will be once again severely hit.

And what happens to farming? Farmers barely survive thanks to subsidies, subsidies that will be devalued by inflation. Energy rationing? Food rationing? Blackouts? A cabinet minister indicated that he is not in favour of electricity rationing. Well, the words 'if necessary' not only apply to nuclear weapons. The authorities will be forced to impose rationing.  

  

The importance of language learning

Not knowing a language and not making an effort to learn a language is a form of disability. Some people cannot hear - this is called deafness. Some people cannot talk and this means that they are mute. If you hear and talk, but cannot communicate then you are disabled.

Not learning a language can also be the consequence of negative attitudes. The usual comment I hear as justification for not making an effort to learn a certain language is 'It is too difficult'. Another common excuse is 'I don't like it'. People who have such attitudes often deprive themselves of the opportunity of having a normal life and/or a successful life.

By not learning a language you are deprived of first hand knowledge and first hand experiences and constantly depending on other people to know what is actually going on.  You only have access to somebody else's interpretation or understanding of what is going on.

When it comes to sciences and especially to mathematics, we encounter similar kinds of attitudes. People want to have a better job, more work opportunities, but they are not willing to do what needs to be done to have a better job and more work opportunities.

Learning sciences is also about communication. Without acquiring certain skills, your understanding will be limited and you will always be prey of those who want you to believe what they want you to believe. How can you be able to make informed decisions if what you precisely lack is the capacity to understand and evalue the data and views you are faced with?

To be able to make an informed decision, you must know what everything is about. 

Conservative Party about to break one of two new records?

On September 5th 2022 in Britain, the Conservative Party will break a new record whoever is elected British Prime Minister: it would be the first Asian Prime Minister or the third female Prime Minister, after a leadership campaign in which there was a very diverse range of candidates.

The original article indicated 'second female Prime Minister' when in fact it should have been said that she would be the third female Prime Minister. We totally forgot Theresa May. 

Candidates openly disagreed regarding many issues and no one knows with any degree of certainty what will the direction of travel of the new Conservative government. The next hurdle is the choice a new Conservative Cabinet to support the agenda of whoever is elected. Expertise and stamina will be in high demand given the kind of problems the new government will have to deal with from the very beginning. There are extremely hard choices ahead. It is all about energy: energy of the chosen team to deal with lack of energy that is pushing up inflation and leading to industrial unrest.

The situation is especially worrying since British woes are directly linked to geopolitical decisions made by the present government of which one was the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the other still is Foreign Secretary. Until the beginning of the electoral campaign, they were part of the same team, but during the hustings both candidates let it be clear that their agendas were remarkably different. 

The one thing they have got in common is the concept of self-sufficiency and self-sufficiency when it comes to energy supplies will be on a collision course with enviromental commitments. For strategic reasons, Britain might have to delay, water down or even push aside many of the declared goals. Fracking could be at the core of new efforts to make Britain self-sufficient.

Having said that, in the immediate future, the new government will have to deal with the fact that there will be shortages and that the costs of energy might not be coming down as many would like them to come down. The words 'rationing' and 'blackouts' have been mentioned as something Britain will have to face in the coming months.